Article: Mixtwitch Interview.
Writer: Brinepacer
Date Posted: 20/02/00
This interview was conducted with drummer Dave and geetarist Clem of magical mystical dublin pop punkers Mixtwitch. Well worth checking out, but not for their talents at tunes, they sport the 'Worlds Weirdest Warts' collection that got them where they are today, Crumlin Childerns Hopsital.
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1. What inspired the name Mixtwitch?
Stupidity.
2. When did you form? How did you reach this line up?
1997....... we reached this line-up by getting too drunk to notice that each other member was in fact crap.
3. What would cause the band to break up?
Carl farting.
4. Describe your music for someone who's never heard... music?
see Q3.
5. What inspired you to play the music you do?
Alcohol, Nirvana, and NOFX.
6. What have you released so far?
One single, 'Successful everyday living', One mini album, 'Five songs and a prick', One album 'Funny because it's true', and we've been on a
couple of comps as well. We're hopefully putting a new EP out in March/April aswell. Hurray.
7. What happened with the split 7inch with Nerdlinger?
Nerdlinger ate them all. Hungry Roscommon bastards. Nah, both bands are kinda broke at the moment, so hopefully we'll be able to sort it out soon..
8. How does the songwriting process work in the band? Is it one person or a democracy? Do you fight much over how a song turns out?
Each one of us writes the whole song, lyrics and music and then we arrange it together and mess around with it for a while. Yeah we fight all the time over songs but that's what makes mixtwitch the magical mystical melting pot of cultural creativity that it doubtlessly is.....aheh heh
9. What inspires your lyrics? Do you consider the lyrics to be as or more imprortant as the music?
Hmmmm....the more serious lyrics can come from anything that happens to us, or affects us - The less serious ones can evolve from anything from pie to beards to trouser trumpets. Lyrics are never going to be as important as the music. (Unless you play the trouser trumpet) How could Mixtwitch possibly claim that they are? Just listen to the crap we've done in the past!!!!!
10. What was the best show/tour you've played? Who's your favourite touring partners? If you could get on any tour, what would it be?
I think the best show we played was our album launch last july in the music centre. It was an all ages show with all great punk bands, Nerdlinger, Pinion, Penfold and of course Woodrow. There was over 400 there and i think everyone had a fucking great day. The couple of dates with turtlehead were cool and the hallowe'en weekend we played with Co_Dot in Waterford and Dublin was fucking great. Obviously the Vans Warped tour or Deconstruction would be the best for us to end up on, or "supporting" All Saints.
11. You have a reputation as a very energetic live band. What do you think of At The Drive In's no dancing policy?
It's understandable that they want to protect their fans from getting mangled. There are a number of very good reasons for their policy which relate to the fact that smaller kids and a lot of girls are afraid to get close to bands for fear of being crushed. A blanket ban is probably a bit severe though, and if there was a healthier attitude amongst the fans whereby they protect each other then there would be no need for it. Most people have no interest in causing harm. Wankers at a punk/metal show are always going to be in the minority, but they do need to be weeded out and dealt with, and security are not the people to do that. It's up to everyone else. I couldn't imagine playing in front of a crowd of people standing still especially when we are in the process of going fucking apeshit. We like crowds to respond and get into it as much as we are...
12. How did you land the Turtlehead tour?
We played with them on most of their Irish tour back in November and both bands got on really well, and we all had a really great laugh. A few weeks after that they asked us if we wanted to support them on their UK tour in the spring and fair play to them, they kept their word and we're fucking dying to get over.
13. What do you fight over the most? What was the worst band fight?
We fight most over whose round it is and how many smokes one owes the other. The worst band fight was when Cags farted in practice and we had to go home.
14. How do you define selling out?
Sacrificing the integrity of your music in the interests of making money...
15. You've had a lot of problems with the Dublin punk scene. Can you see this stopping or getting worse as the band gets bigger?
All that had nothing to do with how big the band was really. At the time everyone involved was at the same formative stage. The problems were mainly down to all our ages and naivety and misdirected attitudes but we've grown up now and we're much more wiser and mature and we have longer beards.
16. What is the nicest and meanest thing said about your band?
Helen Hanley probably said it best when she said the name of our band was "Dreadful", and BP fallon had a few things to say aswell, but his bald shiny head distracted us from the actual words coming out of his mouth. The meanest thing that's been said about us was when some ginger bint came up to Clem after a gig and said that Mixtwitch were a bunch of boots and that our music belonged up our own shitepipes. (I think it was love at first sight).
17. Do you think the emergence of punk in the mainstream (a la Blink 182) has effected punk at a grassroots level?
Nah. It just means that good music is accessible to a lot more people who wouldn't normally get to hear it and that's always a good thing. The fact that Blink 182 released two of their worst songs as singles doesn't really detract from the fact that it's better that they are on MTV instead of fucking Westlife or the Verve. The mainstream playlists never have an impact on grassroots. People will always do what they do regardless of major labels or Top of the Pops preferences.
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. Do you see MP3 as a help or a hindrance? How important do you see the web as a tool for band promotion?
MP3s have been a great way to get our music to people who would otherwise never have heard it. The only problem we've had is some bloke from Tralee that goes by the codename "Brine" or something - that guy keeps sellin' our music to pay for his damn haircuts.. Man if we ever get a hold of him... Yeah, we just registered Mixtwitch.com a few months ago, and it's been really useful for letting people know about gigs n releases and stuff, and also for organising gigs with other bands in other counties/countries. It's also made it possible for us to get in touch with foreign distributors and small labels to help get our album out abroad, so yeah i'd say the web is damn useful!
19. What does the future hold for Mixtwitch?
The key to many pairs of ladies knickers.
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